BY FUAD MOHAMMED
As recent as January 17, the Government of Kenya deported 550 Somali refugees, cementing its resolve to close down the Daadab Refuge Camp, the World’s largest refugee camp with a population of 329,811 as of 2015.
Dadaab camp was constructed in 1992. If Kenya goes ahead with it is threat, both the locals and the refugees will be affected in equal measure.
The announcement to close the camp was condemned by local leaders, among them Garissa County Governor, Nathif Jama and the County Senator Yussuf Hajji who blamed government for not consulting local community and leaders. The loudest decry of the Dadaab camp closure has come from the constituency that hosts the camp and also named after it, Dadaab constituency, which is said to be the biggest beneficiary since the camp’s establishment.
The Government, in justifying its resolve has sited economic insecurity, burden caused by the refugees and lack of support from the international community a claim strongly refuted by Farah maalim, former deputy speaker of the national assembly who hails from dadaab area. Mr Maalim says “there is no a single penny that Kenya spent on refugees.”
A study commissioned by the Norwegian government in 2010 shows that the camp brings Sh1.4 billion annually to the surrounding community, which extends to the whole of Garissa County and the surrounding counties. The study also revealed that the annual turnover of the refugee-run, camp-based business in the camp exceeds Sh10 billion. This is close to the budget given to the counties of NEP and exceeds by far the development budget given to NEP in the pre-Devolution era.
Currently businessmen from Dadaab area own the busses hired for the purposes of transport in the ongoing deportation, while thousands of Kenyans are disguising themselves as refugees in the camp to beat the biting famine and hunger strives persisting in the NEP. They registered with UNHCR in order to get foods donated by donors.
The dadaab refugee are known for their hardworking and creative skills in establishing other forms of business, among the booming invention of the fuel efficient stove whose use has gained currency in the camp and its environs.
Donor agencies have employed thousands of Kenyans to run its various activities in the camps, from car drivers to other senior positions. Closing the camps will translate to thousands of job losses.
This particular area of the camp was initially known to be a shifta zone but that has since stopped. The closure may bring back lawlessness into the area. Sending refugees away will leave thousands of locals jobless. Besides, in the last five years, UNHCR spent over Sh150 billion in the area. UNHCR also runs hospitals and schools. The vehicles used by the police in the camps are provided and maintained by the U.N.
Many see the move to announce the closure of the camp as merely a way of blackmailing the international community, to lobby for more funding. It is not the first time the Kenyan Government threatened to shut down the Daadab camp. However, should the Government be serious about the threat this time around and close the camp, it will be a major setback both to the refugees, as their motherland is yet to find lasting stability and to the local whose survival has come to depend on the Camp over the years. As, ‘s in East Africa put it
“It could lead to the involuntary return of thousands of refugees to Somalia and other countries of origin, where their lives may still be in danger. This would be in violation of Kenya’s obligations under international law,” says Muthoni Wanyeki, regional director, Amnesty International.
It would also be contrary to the 1951 Convention relating to the status of refugees which states that “No Contracting State shall expel or return a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion”
While the Kenyan Government has an obligation to strengthen her security, the notion that the refugees are causing insecurity is wrong. It should be well noted that the refugees have run away from political instability, insecurity, drought, hunger and starvation in their country. The Somali refugees stay lawfully in Kenya under the International Convection of Geneva in which Kenya is signatory. Kenya is therefore doing no favor to anyone.
